DE102019123134A1 - METHOD AND DEVICE FOR AUTOMATED SUPPORT FOR MAINTENANCE - Google Patents

Abstract

This disclosure provides a method and apparatus for automated maintenance support. A system includes a processor configured to detect a condition that corresponds to a low vehicle fluid level. The processor is further configured to determine whether replacement fluid is available for on-site delivery to a vehicle location within a predefined period. The processor is additionally configured to offer the fluid to a user through a vehicle HMI in response to availability for on-site delivery and in response to the user agreeing to purchase the fluid, directing the dispatch of a delivery unit to deliver the fluid .

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The illustrative embodiments generally relate to automated maintenance support methods and devices.

GENERAL PRIOR ART

The advent of internet-based trading has created a number of new product expectations for consumers. While the typical purchase once required going to the store, choosing from the available goods, and going to another store if a desired product was not available, online shopping websites provide a world of consumer goods. Such a purchase often involves ordering a product and waiting for a delivery period, which is often several days or a week before arrival.

While this was considered one of the early disadvantages of such orders, consumers have adopted the delivery model. Waiting for several days and getting a larger selection and often a better price for it is now considered an acceptable compromise. Furthermore, the consumer no longer has to leave his home for the product, but the product instead comes to his home.

While this model can work well for the delivery and purchase of many goods, there are still a number of products that a consumer does not wait for days or hours. For example, few consumers would order a pizza and accept delivery two days later. Accordingly, there are still a large number of retailers serving more urgent needs.

Another problem with the home delivery model is that a user is not always at home. When groceries or other goods are bought for immediate use, the user is often not just out of the house for these goods, but further away. A similar scenario would be if a vehicle is in a low fuel or fluid level situation. The fact that the problem actually exists with the vehicle itself exacerbates the situation, since the means of transportation on which one would rely to fix the problem is itself the subject of the problem. Accordingly, it may or may not be advisable to use the vehicle to obtain a replacement part or fluid. Instead, a tow truck or breakdown vehicle is typically called. Thus, the current models for on-demand trading have not yet reached a service level to adapt to all such situations.

SUMMARY

In a first illustrative embodiment, a system includes a processor configured to detect a condition that corresponds to a low vehicle fluid level. The processor is further configured to determine whether replacement fluid is available for on-site delivery to a vehicle location within a predefined period. The processor is additionally configured to offer the fluid to a user through a vehicle HMI in response to availability for on-site delivery and in response to the user agreeing to purchase the fluid, directing the dispatch of a delivery unit to deliver the fluid .

In a second illustrative embodiment, a system includes a processor configured to receive a request for delivery of a part or fluid to a vehicle location. The processor is further configured to determine a plurality of units within a predefined distance from the vehicle location that have indicated an ability to meet the request within a predefined period of time. The processor is additionally configured to select one of the plurality of requirement fulfillment units and instruct the unit to fulfill the requirement at the vehicle location.

In a third illustrative embodiment, a system includes a processor configured to detect a vehicle diagnostic code. The processor is further configured to determine that a condition associated with the diagnostic code can be remedied on site at a vehicle location based on predefined remediable conditions. The processor is also configured to determine that a vehicle part or fluid is available for on-site repair. The processor is further configured to complete an ordering process for ordering the part or fluid and instructing delivery of the part or fluid to the vehicle location.

Figure list

• 1 shows an illustrative vehicle computing system;
• 2 shows an illustrative condition detection process;
• 3 shows an illustrative ordering process;
• 4 shows an illustrative order fulfillment process; and
• 5 shows an illustrative delivery process.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Depending on requirements, detailed embodiments are disclosed here; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely illustrative and can be included in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features may be enlarged or reduced to show details of certain components. Therefore, the specific structural and functional details disclosed here are not to be interpreted as restrictive, but merely as a representative basis in order to teach the person skilled in the art how to implement the claimed subject matter in various ways.

1 illustrates an exemplary block topology for a vehicle-based computing system 1 (vehicle based computing system - VCS) for a vehicle 31 , An example of such a vehicle-based computing system 1 is the SYNC system manufactured by THE FORD MOTOR COMPANY. A vehicle equipped with a vehicle-based computing system can have a visual front-end interface 4 included, which is arranged in the vehicle. The user may also be able to interact with the interface if, for example, it is provided with a touchscreen display. In another illustrative embodiment, the interaction is through keystrokes, a speech dialog system with automatic speech recognition, and speech synthesis.

In the in 1 illustrative embodiment shown 1 controls a processor 3 at least part of the operation of the vehicle-based computing system. The processor provided inside the vehicle enables commands and routines to be processed within the vehicle. Furthermore, the processor has both non-permanent 5 and permanent memory 7 connected. In this illustrative embodiment, the non-persistent memory is a random access memory (RAM) and the persistent memory is a hard disk drive (HDD) or flash memory. In general, persistent (non-volatile) memory can include any form of storage that stores data when a computer or other device is down. These include HDDs, CDs, DVDs, magnetic tapes, solid-state drives, portable USB drives and any other suitable form of permanent storage.

The processor is also provided with a number of different inputs that allow the user to interface with the processor. In this illustrative embodiment are a microphone 29 , an auxiliary entrance 25th (for entrance 33 ), a USB input 23 , a GPS input 24 , the screen 4 which can be a touchscreen display and a BLUETOOTH input 15 all provided. An input selector 51 is also provided to allow a user to switch between different inputs. Inputs to both the microphone and the auxiliary connection are made by a converter 27 converted from analog to digital before they are passed on to the processor. Although not shown, numerous vehicle components and auxiliary components that are in communication with the VCS can use a vehicle network (such as a CAN bus, among others) to forward data to and from the VCS (or components thereof).

Outputs to the system can include a visual display 4 and a speaker 13 or include a stereo system output. The speaker is with an amplifier 11 connected and receives its signal through a digital-to-analog converter 9 from the processor 3 , Output can also be made to a remote BLUETOOTH device, such as the PND, along the bi-directional data streams shown at 19 and 21, respectively 54 , or a USB device such as the car navigation device 60 , be transmitted.

In an illustrative embodiment, the system uses 1 the BLUETOOTH transceiver 15 to use the mobile device 53 to communicate with a user 17 (e.g. a cell phone, smartphone, PDA or any other device that can connect to a wireless long distance network). The mobile device (hereinafter referred to as ND (nomadic device)) 53 can then be used, for example, through communication 55 with a cell tower 57 with a net 61 outside the vehicle 31 to communicate 59 , In some embodiments, the mast may be 57 is a WLAN access point.

Exemplary communication between the ND 53 and the BLUETOOTH transceiver 15 is through the signal 14 shown.

Pairing the ND 53 and the BLUETOOTH transceiver 15 can by a button 52 or a similar input become. Accordingly, the CPU is instructed that the in-vehicle BLUETOOTH transceiver is coupled to a BLUETOOTH transceiver in a mobile device.

Between the CPU 3 and the network 61 For example, data can be communicated using a data plan, voice data, or DTMF tones that the ND 53 assigned. Alternatively, an on-board modem may be desirable 63 include that an antenna 18th has data between the CPU 3 and the network 61 to communicate via the voice band 16 , The ND 53 can then be used, for example, through communication 55 with a cell tower 57 with a net 61 outside the vehicle 31 to communicate 59 , In some embodiments, the modem can 63 communication 20th with the mast 57 build up to the network 61 to communicate. As a non-limiting example, the modem can 63 a USB cellular modem and for communication 20th is about cellular communications.

In one illustrative embodiment, the processor is provided with an operating system that includes an API for communicating with modem application software. The modem application software can access an embedded module or firmware on the BLUETOOTH transceiver to complete wireless communication with a remote BLUETOOTH transceiver (such as that found in a mobile device). Bluetooth is a subset of the protocols from IEEE 802 PAN (Personal Area Network). The IEEE 802 LAN (Local Area Network) protocols include WLAN and have considerable cross-functionality with IEEE 802 PAN. Both are suitable for wireless communication within a vehicle. Other means of communication that can be used in this area are optical free space communication (such as IrDA) and non-standardized consumer IR protocols.

In another embodiment, the ND includes 53 a modem for voice band or broadband data communication. In the data-over-speech embodiment, a technique known as frequency division multiplexing can be implemented when the owner of the mobile device can speak over the device while data is being transmitted. At other times, when the owner is not using the device, the entire bandwidth (300 Hz to 3.4 kHz in one example) can be used for data transmission. Although frequency division multiplexing may be common in analogue mobile communication between the vehicle and the Internet and is still used, it has been largely implemented through hybrids of code division multiple access (Code Domain Multiple Access - CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA) and space division multiplexing (Space Domain Multiple Access - SDMA) for digital mobile communication. If the user has a data plan associated with the mobile device, there is a possibility that the data plan enables broadband transmission and the system could use a much larger bandwidth (which increases the data transmission speed). In yet another embodiment, the ND 53 replaced by a cellular communication device (not shown) that is in the vehicle 31 is installed. In yet another embodiment, the ND 53 a wireless local area network (LAN) device that can communicate, for example (and without limitation) over an 802.11g network (ie, WLAN) or a WiMax network.

In one embodiment, incoming data may be through data-over-speech or a data plan through the mobile device, through the BLUETOOTH on-board transceiver, and into the internal processor 3 of the vehicle. In the case of certain temporary data, the data can be stored on the HDD or another storage medium, for example 7 stored until the data is no longer needed.

Additional sources that can interface with the vehicle include a personal navigation device 54 who, for example, a USB port 56 and / or an antenna 58 has a vehicle navigation device 60 that have a USB port 62 or other connection, an in-vehicle GPS device 24 or a remote navigation system (not shown) that connects to the network 61 having. USB is one of a class of serial network protocols. The serial protocols IEEE 1394 (FireWire ™ (Apple), i.LINK ™ (Sony) and Lynx ™ (Texas Instruments)), EIA (Electronics Industry Association), IEEE 1284 (Centronics Port), S / PDIF (Sony / Philips Digital Interconnect Format) and USB-IF (USB Implementers Forum) form the backbone of serial device-to-device standards. The majority of the protocols can be implemented for either electrical or optical communication.

Furthermore, the CPU could be equipped with various other auxiliary devices 65 to be in communication. These devices can be controlled by a wireless 67 or wired 69 Connection. The auxiliary device 65 may include personal media players, wireless health devices, portable computers, and the like, among others.

Additionally or alternatively, the CPU could use a vehicle-based wireless router 73 be connected, for example using a transceiver 71 for WLAN (IEEE 802.11). This could allow the CPU to connect to remote networks within range of the local router 73 connect to.

In addition to executing exemplary processes by a vehicle computing system located in a vehicle, in certain embodiments, the exemplary processes may be performed by a computing system that is in communication with a vehicle computing system. Such a system may include, among other things, a wireless device (e.g., a cell phone, among others) or a remote computing system (e.g., a server, among others) connected by the wireless device. Together, such systems can be referred to as vehicle-associated computing systems (VACS). In certain embodiments, certain components of the VACS can perform certain parts of a process depending on the specific implementation of the system. For example, if a process includes, and is not limited to, a step of sending or receiving information with a paired wireless device, the wireless device is likely not to perform that part of the process because the wireless device is not itself information Would send and receive. One of ordinary skill in the art will understand when it is inappropriate to apply a particular computing system to a given solution.

In each of the illustrative embodiments discussed herein, an exemplary, non-limiting example of a process that can be performed by a computing system is shown. With respect to each process, it is possible that the computing system that executes the process is configured as a special purpose processor for performing the process for the limited purpose of executing the process. All processes need not be carried out in their entirety and are to be understood as examples of process types that can be carried out in order to achieve elements of the invention.

Additional steps can be added to or removed from the example processes as needed.

With respect to the illustrative embodiments described in the figures, which show illustrative process flows, it should be noted that a general purpose processor may be temporarily activated as a special purpose processor for the purpose of performing some or all of the exemplary methods shown by these figures. If code is executed that provides instructions for performing some or all of the steps of the process, the processor can again be temporarily used as a special purpose processor until the process is complete. In another example, firmware that operates according to a preconfigured processor may, to an appropriate extent, cause the processor to act as a special purpose processor provided for the purpose of performing the method or an appropriate variation thereof.

As interest in on-demand delivery grows (as already discussed with regard to the home delivery model), there is a need for more accurate and faster delivery. It is often difficult to build a business model around such delivery because needs can vary widely and demand levels can also vary. The illustrative embodiments provide a way to incorporate such a model into an existing mechanic or auto parts / dealer business, so that the risk of focusing solely on the retrieval model is mitigated. This can expand customer accessibility for existing mechanics and dealers, while alleviating customer inconvenience and providing an improved customer experience.

The illustrative embodiments allow automatic determination that a fluid is low or part defective, and ordering and on-site delivery of a solution. For example, if a vehicle's transmission fluid has a low level, the vehicle could detect this condition and order fluid from a local supplier so that the fluid could be delivered while the user is at work (or while the user is waiting). Because the backend server can find an available parts or fluid supplier and can confirm the availability of a timely delivery, the customer can avoid the difficult and tedious task of identifying the problem and finding a local supplier who can help fix the problem . The same model can be used for defective parts, low fluid levels and also fuel. In further developed models, drones or other autonomous vehicles could also deliver the goods, so that a centralized supply business can serve a variety of prompt delivery requirements very quickly, which increases sales and public awareness and minimizes waiting times for customers. People typically cannot wait days to resolve such issues, and the illustrative ones Embodiments improve detection, ordering, and delivery systems in a way that takes into account that no maintenance can be done.

In other examples, autonomous vehicles may need similar breakdown assistance. In these examples, the vehicle can be equipped with decision-making processes about when and where such services can or should take place. The vehicle could be redirected to a service location, but it may be more useful for the service to come to or meet the vehicle. This can allow an AV to continue largely along planned routes and meet a technician after being dropped off or on the way to a destination. By scheduling such a meeting, the vehicle can have minimal downtime. Access to the vehicle can be provided by the vehicle when the vehicle encounters the technician. Since the vehicle (for example, without passengers) can drive to a meeting with the technician, even greater efficiencies can be achieved in terms of performance.

For example, if the vehicle is a human-driven vehicle and the human is at work, a technician may have to drive 20 minutes to reach the vehicle. On the other hand, an autonomous vehicle could drop the passenger off at work and drive a route that both moves the vehicle toward a next pickup and shortens the distance that the technician would have to drive. The selection of a service unit and route planning for delivery can take into account where the vehicle will go next, so that the appropriate technician can be chosen with the minimum driving and downtime (i.e. it could be a completely different service unit than in the case that that Vehicle remains parked at the drop-off location).

2 shows an illustrative condition recognition process. It is useful not to wait for a vehicle to run out of fluid completely or for a part to fail completely before attempting correction. Unfortunately, because of scheduling, travel and / or backlogs, and service center opening times, users often can't do anything about a diagnostic code. This means that even if a diagnostic code indicates that the wiper fluid is low or that the transmission fluid needs to be refilled, the user cannot be close enough to a center, find an open center, or even know how to deal with the problem.

Although users could certainly call an emergency technician, it is believed that such calls require the user to sit next to a vehicle for long periods of time and wait for a technician. If this perception can change due to a change in service, users are likely to be more proactive when dealing with situations where a small fix can prevent a big problem.

In this example, the process attempts to diagnose a low fluid level condition, although the same process could diagnose a variety of on-the-spot conditions that, if a part were available or a technician would be available, correct the problem very quickly and easily could be. If the process that monitors the fluid / part 201 detects 203 that a fluid level is low or a part could need replacement or maintenance, the process can determine 205 whether the part / fluid can be delivered on demand. Parts and fluids are different, but if the description refers to one of them, it can alternatively refer to the other, unless the alternative examples would not make sense. Fluid may include engine fluids and fuel, among other things. Charge can also be provided in a similar manner in an on-demand model by sending out a chargeable maintenance technician and / or a chargeable drone (e.g., carrying a portable, rechargeable battery pack).

On-demand delivery may include, among other things, the sensibility of having a replacement in place (e.g., it may not be sensible to deliver brake pads to a driver who would not be able to install them unless the system knows that the driver could do this installation or the vehicle could do it), the availability of the fluid / part, the availability of a technician or a drone if one is necessary, the availability of a driver to deliver / install the part, etc. .

Although companies typically have breakdown assistance programs with specific units, these concepts can allow a local mechanic to be repurposed as a part-time breakdown assistance unit, especially for the purpose of installing a part or fluid that may require a very low level of skill (e.g., yourself a new mechanic understand how to put oil in a vehicle). If the part is not immediately available, the system can calculate how long it can take for the part to be delivered and offer 207 a part ordering process that can be processed and enabled immediately. Thereby, even if a user cannot get help immediately, the immediate availability of the order enables the Users at least order the replacement before they forget it. The order can be fulfilled on site at the vehicle, on site at the user's location and / or at home.

For on-site vehicle fulfillment, the process can determine when a part is available based on a vehicle's location. A service delivery technician or drone can be sent out to go to a vehicle and the process can notify a user's phone of the incoming delivery of the vehicle's GPS coordinates. Alternatively, the part can be sent out to the GPS coordinates of the user's phone and a similar notification can be provided. Because time is often critical, the user does not necessarily have to wait for the part or fluid to be delivered home, even if the part or fluid is not immediately available for delivery. In this example, the process proceeds to 301 if the part is characterized as one that might be available on-call for which on-site correction is reasonable.

3 shows an illustrative ordering process. This process tries to determine whether a part that is suitable for delivery on demand is actually available for delivery on demand. For example, this may include determining the local availability of the part or fluid, determining whether on-site installation is necessary, determining the availability of a delivery vehicle, and determining an approximate delivery time.

In this example, the process checks 301 the location of a vehicle or user phone depending on whether the part / fluid is delivered to the vehicle or phone. If the process is performed in response to a diagnostic code, the process may determine an immediate location or a target location, as the user may not actually have to stop and wait for wiper fluid and complete on-site delivery to a destination can be reasonable. Because the process can determine a future location and a current location, if a destination is known, the process can plan using one of the locations, and using the location of a user's phone if the user has moved away from a vehicle and / or plans to move away from the vehicle.

If delivery to the location used for the destination is not possible, the process can proceed to the ordering procedure 207 or the process could check other locations (e.g. the vehicle is moving, delivery to the current location is not possible, but delivery to the target location is possible). If delivery is possible, the process may also determine 305 whether drone delivery is possible. Although this is extremely uncommon at the moment, efforts are being made to enable the reasonable drone-based delivery of goods. The advantage of this specific situation is that the delivery is usually a small, separate order. Specially equipped drones, e.g. B. a drone with an air compressor, could even deliver tire fillings. Other drones can deliver fluids and parts, and unless the vehicle is equipped with a way to receive a drone delivery, the drone may require that a user be present on the vehicle to receive the order.

If a drone is not used to fulfill the delivery, a delivery driver can also be a technician who can install the part / fluid upon delivery. In this scenario, the user may need to meet the driver for vehicle access purposes, or in other examples, the user could send a short-term access code for use by the driver. If the process were fully automated, the vehicle could even provide and send this code, although it can notify the user if the user does not want to consent. In other examples, the driver could place the delivery in a trunk or other compartment that is specialized for delivery purposes and notify the user when the delivery has been completed. If someone delivers the part, the process goes to deploy 311 about ordering instructions, which may include agreeing any necessary handovers or meeting times.

If a drone delivers the goods, such as from a mechanic's location or an autonomous hub, which may be provided by a manufacturer, for example, the process checks 307 whether a drone is available immediately or when a drone will be available. Because drones can fly short cycles, they can become available quickly, even if they are not immediately available. If a drone will be available 309 within a suitable time window, the process may reserve or request the drone 313 and then continue with the rest of the ordering process. Otherwise, the process can branch off to the human-made ordering and delivery procedure, as if the drone were not an option.

4 shows an illustrative order fulfillment process. In this example, the process determines the availability of local ones A mechanic or service provider and offers a process through which these bodies can try to fulfill the order to improve efficiency and cost to the customer.

The process receives 401 an order request that can be generated by an indication that a vehicle is trying to order a part or fluid on demand during a known delivery area. The process 403 reviews local service providers that have been identified in advance as available for on-demand service requests. Since the scheduling for these requirements is effectively dynamic, the current availability of a given unit cannot be known unless these units report the availability of a central location.

The process then offers 405 a “bidding option” for the service. This is a purely optional concept, but it can lead to higher efficiencies for customers and / or acceptable service costs for service providers. For example, if a part is delivered, the price of the part can be offered at a discount, and this prevents the customer from having to compare offers. The same applies to services. Bids can also be placed in terms of scheduling, which allows businesses to bid for how long it takes to complete an order, and then to ensure compliance with future access or future costs of the part / service based on non-performance Assurances are reduced.

5 shows an illustrative delivery process. In this illustrative example, the process receives 501 a delivery confirmation indicating that the requested product is being delivered by a given entity to a given location based on a given set of parameters. This may include, for example, the immediate delivery of a product (directly to the user) or in-vehicle delivery to a vehicle hold or entry.

If the user has to provide some kind of access or presence for the delivery, the process sends 503 also provides the user with a set of delivery instructions. For immediate delivery, this could include, for example, "Your package arrives at or around 9:30 a.m., please be at your vehicle or the other specified location at this time". For in-vehicle delivery, the notification could be something like "Your package will be delivered to your vehicle between 10 a.m. and 12 noon, please make sure your vehicle is parked in an accessible outdoor car park during this period".

If the delivery is not immediate, the process can simply notify a user 507 when the delivery is finished. If the delivery is immediate, the process can 509 Send live data to the user to track the driver or drone 509 , This data can also be sent for in-vehicle deliveries, but it can be even more useful for immediate deliveries because the user can better plan when to hit the drone / driver based on tracking an expected arrival time. In addition to sending the data, a user application may display live tracking data that may allow the user to track a driver or drone's route to a pre-planned delivery location.

By enabling on-demand ordering based on known inventory near a user / vehicle location and quick fulfillment and delivery to a user or vehicle location other than a home location, the illustrative concepts and embodiments provide opportunities to improve the utility and functionality of vehicle services and the replacement of parts and fluids. The novel, unusual and atypical examples and concepts described here show possible improvements which can be achieved by using these examples, concepts and the like.

Although exemplary embodiments have been described above, these embodiments are not intended to describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the terms used in the description are descriptive and not restrictive, and it is to be understood that various changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. In addition, the features of different embodiments can be logically combined for implementation to form situation-appropriate variations of the embodiments described here.

According to the present invention there is provided a system comprising: a processor configured to: detect that a level of vehicle fluid is below a minimum threshold; Determining whether replacement fluid is available for on-site delivery to a vehicle location within a predefined period of time; in response to availability for on-site delivery, offering the fluid to a user through a vehicle HMI; and in response to the user agreeing to the fluid, instructing the dispatch of a delivery unit to deliver the fluid.

In one embodiment, the vehicle location includes a current vehicle location.

In one embodiment, the vehicle location includes a pre-programmed destination.

In one embodiment, the unit includes a delivery driver.

In one embodiment, the unit includes a drone.

In one embodiment, determining delivery availability includes determining a unit that has the fluid in stock within a predefined travel time from the vehicle location.

According to one embodiment, determining the delivery availability includes determining the availability of the delivery unit for delivering the fluid within the predefined period.

According to the present invention there is provided a system comprising: a processor configured to: receive a request for delivery of a maintenance item to a vehicle location; Determining a plurality of units within a predefined distance from the vehicle location that has indicated an ability to meet the request within a predefined period of time; Selecting one of the plurality of requirement fulfillment units; and instructing the unit to meet the requirement at the vehicle location.

In one embodiment, the vehicle location includes a current vehicle location.

In one embodiment, the vehicle location includes a pre-programmed destination.

In one embodiment, the processor is further configured to instruct the unit to install the maintenance item as part of the delivery.

In one embodiment, the determination includes determining that the plurality of units have a predefined ability to install the maintenance item.

According to one embodiment, the processor is further configured to: receive a notification that the device has sent out a delivery to fulfill the request; and notifying the user of the transmission via a mobile device.

In one embodiment, the processor is configured to provide live delivery broadcast data to track a delivery unit after notifying the user.

According to one embodiment, the processor is configured to provide hit instructions that instruct a user regarding a hit time that indicates an estimated arrival time of the delivery following notification of the user.

According to the present invention, there is provided a system comprising: a processor configured to: detect a vehicle diagnostic code; Determining that a condition associated with the diagnostic code can be remedied on-site at a vehicle location based on predefined remediable conditions; Determining that a vehicle part or fluid is available for on-site repair; Complete an ordering process to order the part or fluid; and instructing delivery of the part or fluid to the vehicle location.

In one embodiment, determining that the vehicle part or fluid is available for on-site repair includes determining that a respective part or fluid supplier located within a predefined distance from the vehicle location includes an available delivery to the vehicle location within of a predefined period of time.

In one embodiment, the vehicle location includes a current location.

In one embodiment, the vehicle location includes a pre-programmed destination.

Claims (15)

System comprising: a processor configured to: Detecting that a level of vehicle fluid is below a minimum threshold; Determining whether replacement fluid is available for on-site delivery to a vehicle location within a predefined period of time; in response to availability for on-site delivery, offering the fluid to a user through a vehicle HMI; and in response to the user agreeing to receive the fluid, instructing the dispatch of a delivery unit to deliver the fluid. System according to Claim 1 , the vehicle location including a current vehicle location. System according to Claim 1 , where the vehicle location includes a pre-programmed destination. System according to Claim 1 with the unit including a delivery driver. System according to Claim 1 , with the unit including a drone. System according to Claim 1 , wherein determining the availability of delivery includes determining a unit that has the fluid in stock within a predefined travel time from the vehicle location. System according to Claim 1 , wherein determining the availability of delivery includes determining a unit that has the fluid in stock within a predefined travel time from the vehicle location. System according to Claim 1 , wherein determining the availability of delivery includes determining the availability of the delivery unit for delivering the fluid within the predefined period. System comprising: a processor configured to: Receiving a request for delivery of a maintenance item to a vehicle location; Determining a plurality of units within a predefined distance from the vehicle location that has indicated an ability to meet the request within a predefined period of time; Selecting one of the plurality of requirement fulfillment units; and Instructing the unit to meet the requirement at the vehicle location. System according to Claim 9 , the vehicle location including a current vehicle location. System according to Claim 9 , where the vehicle location includes a pre-programmed destination. System according to Claim 9 wherein the processor is further configured to instruct the unit to install the maintenance item as part of the delivery. System according to Claim 12 determining determining that the plurality of units have a predefined ability to install the maintenance item. System according to Claim 9 wherein the processor is further configured to: receive a notification that the device has sent out a delivery to fulfill the request; and notifying the user of the transmission via a mobile device. System according to Claim 14 wherein the processor is configured to provide live delivery send data to track a delivery unit following notification of the user.

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